Mac App Store Opens January 6

Apple has announced today that the Mac App Store will open for business on Thursday, January 6th. It will be available in 90 countries at launch, and will feature paid and free apps in categories including Education, Games, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and more.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”

The release runs through a number of the new store’s strong points – ways to browse for apps, one-click install of apps, updates delivered directly, and so on. It also mentions that the store will be available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard users as a free download via Software Update.

The January 6 opening date is a bit of a surprise – as Apple initially said it would open within 90 days of being announced (on October 20th) and I think most of us had been expecting this to translate into a late January launch.

Early is good though. I’m keen to see what Mac App Store prices look like, which apps are there on opening day, and how it feels bringing the App Store to the Mac.

Have you got any apps you’re already looking forward to in the Mac App Store?